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23. Electric vehicles: Cars of the future?
EnergyAustralia invites you to this free public forum and Open Day, hosted
by guest speaker, Top Gear editorial producer and former motoring editor of
the Sydney Morning Herald, Joshua Dowling. Topics to be covered include:
? The challenges and advantages facing electric vehicles
? The differences between electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles
There will also be a display of electric and hybrid vehicles and an
EnergyAustralia representative will be discussing the potential impact of
electric vehicles on the electricity network.
Time: 10am to 2pm
Date: Sunday 26 April
Venue: Energy Efficiency Centre, Homebush Business Village Unit 12/11-21,
Underwood Road, Homebush
For more information or to register your interest, visit
http://www.eec.energyaustralia.com.au/openDay_landing.html

PHEVs perhaps but the 40% efficient auto diesel is on the way. Plus it
can provide spare heat for cabin heating 'for free' in the important
European, Japanese and N American markets.

Sea going diesels with co-gen are right up in the 70% efficiency
category now which is at least twice as good as the efficiency of
GENERATING electricity for the grid, never mind the losses in battery
storage etc.

for mobile vehicle? weight?
For ups's and independent power system? Obvious choice.

the place for lead acid batteries is stationary locations where power
drains are continuous and only vary slightly. up until now, there hasn't
been many generally viable, economical alternatives. there is a lot of
work in the instant power area, probably because if has the least
competition from lead acid.

How much energy per day can be captured from the surface of a car?
Incident sunlight at midday is in round figures about 1kW per square
metre, but of course solar cells are not 100% efficient. Indeed, they're
nowhere near.

"Tesla Motors' first production vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, is an
all-electric sports car. According to test results from an EPA
certified laboratory, the car has a range of 221 miles (356 km). The
company and reviewers state that the Tesla Roadster accelerates from
zero to 60 mph (100 km/h) in less than four seconds, and has a top
speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) (limited for safety). The cost of powering
the vehicle is estimated at US$0.02 per mile."